


Safe.

by hawkeblocke



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: And satisfied, Cute things, Everybody's happy, F/M, This makes my heart hurt, in a good way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-15
Updated: 2013-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-04 16:56:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1083423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkeblocke/pseuds/hawkeblocke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>it took her a moment to realize just what he had become to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Safe.

**Author's Note:**

> this is actually working off of a headcanon I have about these two since they've started dominating my mind for the past couple of months. It's short but sweet, I didn't want to really overdo it because this moment is actually hugely intimate and I tend to screw things up. I hope I didn't with this.

Their bodies were laced with sweat, and as Brynjolf gathered her up into his arms and she rested her ear against the beat of his heart Caine felt her body fall into a relaxed and pleasant numbness. As their breathing evened and their hearts slowed to dance to the same beat, Brynjolf's hand climbed up her arm to rest below her shoulder and she felt at peace.

Moments like this were rare for them. Caine was hardly in Riften anymore. The thieves were doing fine without her guidance, and she was confidant in Brynjolf's abilities to pick up the reigns when she was gone. More often than not, she was.

The country always seemed to need her for something. There were always people who needed saving, always items that needed to be retrieved, always some ancient mystery that needed to be uncovered. The world never ceased to come up with new ways to put her in danger.

And it made moments like this so much sweeter, when she could let herself breathe easy. The nights that she felt like she was the one being protected, the one being looked after were the nights she treasured and held on to for the times when she was the one doing the protecting. Caine clung to the memories of the steady thrum of Bryn's heartbeat in her ear and the solid warmth of his chest for the nights when she didn't have that luxury, and by the way the Nord hummed and breathed deeply as they lulled each other to sleep, it was the same for him.

It wasn't something they talked about or even acknowledged, how they had changed. It was such a subtle transition sometimes Caine wondered if she had imagined it. She couldn't deny it, however, that she cared for Bryn in a way that transcended her own survival, that she was more grateful in ways than she could count for how he kept her fighting, how he made it worth it. Somehow, Brynjolf had become her first thought in the morning and her last thought at night, somehow, the memory of his warmth and his blanket of comfort kept her from freezing in the harsh nights curled up in her bedroll alone. Somehow, he had become her beacon of safety. 

Idly, her fingers traced the mark on his chest, before she realized what she was doing. She heard Brynjolf's surprise in the stutter in his breath, and the way his heart seemed to miss a beat even as a slow, tired smile curled his lips. He shifted slightly, pressed a kiss to her temple and they let the sound of each other's breathing lull them to sleep.

Just before she drifted into her dreams Caine felt a similar mark traced into the skin of her shoulder blade, so subtle she might have missed it had she not been so acute to Bryn's touch and it made her heart swell at the thought of what that symbol meant. To him, to them.

She fell asleep feeling safe and protected, knowing that as long as Brynjolf was still breathing, she would be.


End file.
